It was appropriate that Graeme Swann spoke in the MCC Museum at Lord's ­following his man of the match display against West Indies, doubly so as he may not get too much of a chance to rewrite the history books at seamer-friendly Chester-le-Street this week.

The only surprise at Lord's was that he was not locked up in one of the museum's glass cases, along with the stuffed sparrow that was famously "bowled" by Jahangir Khan in 1936. Because orthodox finger spinners, we were told not long ago, would soon be consigned to cricket history, keeping company with the tall hats and curved bats of the game's past.

Wickets – at least at the highest level – would be taken only by fast bowlers, wrist spinners and deceitful off-spinners who could somehow magic the ball away from the right-hander, as in the case of Muttiah Muralitharan and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Swann is none of these things. He is an orthodox off-spinner – although he does rip the ball – who did well just to get a gig at Lord's in early May. In fact he took six wickets, scored an unbeaten half-century and caught well. There was also a vitality about him, an omni-presence that might have been sucked from Kevin Pietersen, who had a strangely muted game in contrast to his usual extrovert involvement.

"I'm reasonably satisfied," Swann smiled, tongue in cheek. "As Test matches go, that was right up there for me. I didn't expect to do a great deal. Looking at the pitch and the conditions before the game, I was hoping to be an integral part of the win but I didn't know how much I'd play."

If England had a weakness at Lord's it was their lack of a proper No7, which is probably Andrew Flintoff's true home. But in Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Swann they had three No8s and Swann's unbeaten 63 at No9 disguised the length of the tail.

"I'm absolutely delighted that I achieved so much. I was buzzing after my innings. I was told to go out there and express myself by Mushy [spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed]. He told me to bat like I used to, to stop worrying about playing straight and being a proper batsman, to just go out there and hit the ball, because he said when I played like that I was a much more dangerous opponent."

When asked whether he wanted to develop into an all-rounder, he replied: "I am an all-rounder – I'm just one who is batting artificially low at the moment. Ravi Bopara's stolen the No3 berth away from me, Broady has earned his place at No7 and Bresnan deserves to go in at No8."

Swann, 30 later this month, now looks a fixture in the side, and if Monty Panesar plays against Australia this summer, it will be as the second spinner. "This has been a ludicrous week for me," he added. "I've turned up in May and opened the bowling in a Test match on a green-top, that I know had people shaking their heads in disbelief, which I found brilliant. Especially the TV guys. They couldn't make head nor tail of it.

"I read one article which hit the nail on the head, it said I had a good record against Devon Smith. He definitely seems to have a few demons when he bats against me, which we saw when he charged down the wicket. He seemed ill at ease. I think it was a good move by Straussy, a little bit different, but I don't think he was being egotistical or showing off, saying I'm the captain at Lord's. It was unexpected and we reaped the rewards later on."

He feels he has benefitted from his relatively late appearance at Test level. "I wasn't good enough 10 years ago. I was still discovering my game three or four years ago. I had a few rough years but they've all added together and made me a better bowler. But I always had in the back of my mind that I could play."

His Lord's highlight was his cheap dismissals of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. "That made the game for me. Getting him first ball in the first innings was Roy of the ­Rovers stuff," he beamed. Before the match Chanderpaul was the No1-ranked batsman in the world. After coming up against Swann, that is no longer the case.